Parliament Live! Show of partisanship by Speaker is absolutely incredible: Mahua

Australia granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women's soccer team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister said on Tuesday (March 10).

The announcement followed days of urging by Iranian groups in Australia and by US President Donald Trump for the Australian government to help the women, who had not spoken publicly about a wish to claim asylum.

The team drew speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn't sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.

Early Tuesday, police officers transported five of the women from their hotel in Gold Coast, Australia, “to a safe location” after they made asylum requests. There, they met with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and the processing of their humanitarian visas was finalised, the minister told reporters in Brisbane.

The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women's Asian Cup last month, before the Iran war began on Feb 28. The team was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend and faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment. Iran's head coach Marziyeh Jafari said on Sunday the players “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can." An official squad list named 26 players, plus Jafari and other coaches. Burke said the offer of asylum was extended to all on the team.

Rijiju alleges the no-confidence motion has been brought by people who want to attack Constitutional positions and institutions because the post of the Speaker is a high constitutional office.

Rijiju says their (Congress) first allegation is that LoP was not allowed to speak, but in the 15th Lok Sabha (UPA-1), Rahul Gandhi spoke only 2 times during the full term and went abroad whenever sessions were held. Continuing to attack Rahul Gandhi for his "lack of seriousness", Rijiju says the House has seen such an LoP for the first time who "comes running across the floor of the House to hug the Prime Minister and then goes back and winks at his colleagues".

Rijiju takes a swipe at Priyanka Gandhi too, claiming the Congress chose Rahul to be LoP even though they had better people, "including Priyanka Gandhi, who at least attends the House, smiles and listens to other people's speeches".

"If a child strays, the parents show him the right path. In this House, the Speaker is the guardian, and if leaders stray from the rules, then the Speaker has the duty to correct them," says Rijiju, while adding that the attack against the Speaker is part of a design to question the legitimacy of the democratic institutions "only because they (Congress) are unable to win elections".

321 supplementary questions allowed to Treasury MPs but Opposition MPs allowed 364 supplementary questions by the Speaker until now, says Rijiju, asking "how is this partisan conduct".

Trinamool MP Saugata Roy objects to the Chair allowing Rijiju to speak for more than 30 minutes when the rule on motion seeking Speaker's removal allows a member to speak for 15 minutes. Rijiju retorts, saying that when a similar motion was brought against GV Mavalankar, the debate went on for only 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the government today had allocated 10 hours for the discussion because it is confident of its position and defence of the Speaker.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju claimed that more than 50 Opposition MPs had met him and said they were not in favour of moving the motion against Speaker Om Birla but were compelled to support it under pressure from Congress leaders. He added that Birla was “such a great man” that he had personally corrected the infirmities in the notice seeking his own removal.

Rijiju said he was speaking on the motion with a heavy heart and urged Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi to reflect on the language used by the Opposition against the Speaker. Referring to the “cash for votes” episode during the debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal during the UPA-I government, he said Somnath Chatterjee was then the Speaker with the support of the Congress and the Left. Rijiju claimed BJP MPs who acted as whistleblowers were arrested while no action was taken against those accused of offering bribes, yet the party did not move a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The minister also said Birla’s tenure had seen the highest number of special mentions and Rule 377 submissions in the Lok Sabha, along with initiatives such as the introduction of a paperless Parliament. Calling the notice against Birla “purely political”, Rijiju said MPs should feel proud to have served in a Lok Sabha with him as Speaker. He added that the recently formed Parliamentary Friendship Groups included members from all parties and that Birla deserved appreciation rather than a motion seeking his removal.

Container terminal operators at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) will provide 100 per cent waiver on ground rent charges for West Asia-bound containers stranded at the facility for up to 15 days in the wake of disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) said on Tuesday (March 10).

In addition, JNPA in a notice to stakeholders, said these operators will also waive off 80 per cent of reefer plug-charges for up to 15 days.

The waiver on storage/dwell time charges and reefer plug-in charges for West Asia-bound export containers stranded in port area comes due to geopolitical disturbances in the Middle East and in order to mitigate the hardships faced by port users due to these developments, JNPA said.

The sops come days after the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways issued SoP for major port operators in the country amid the West Asia crisis and also asked them to consider waivers on various charges at the ports to mitigate the impact of disruptions.

Kiren Rijiju says that when the BJP was in the Opposition, veteran leader L K Advani would reprimand party MPs who entered the Well of the House to protest, unlike now, when proceedings begin with Opposition members in the Well.

He noted that a no-confidence motion against the Speaker has been moved after nearly 40 years and criticised the Congress, saying that if it had read the speeches of former Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi during earlier motions seeking a Speaker’s removal, it might have shown greater restraint.

Rijiju cites Rajiv Gandhi’s remarks during the 1987 debate on a motion against then Speaker Balram Jakhar and Nehru’s speech in 1954 when a similar motion was moved against Speaker G V Mavalankar.

Kiren Rijiju says since Gaurav Gogoi spoke on issues not linked to the Speaker, he too will speak on other issues. The Parliamentary Affairs minister says Article 118 of the Constitution empowers the Speaker to be the final authority on all rules of procedure with regard to the House, and any decision of the Speaker in the House cannot even be challenged before a court.

We follow the Westminster model under which the Speaker may be elected from the ruling side, but once elected, he is not a representative of any party. But we are also slightly different because our Constitution makers decided that the Speaker can continue to be a party member for purposes of contesting elections in the future, even if as Speaker, he is duty-bound to remain neutral.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju opens the discussion from the Centre's side.

Gaurav Gogoi urges Treasury benches to recall the late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s remarks in the House during the final sitting of the 15th Lok Sabha, when she said the Treasury and the Opposition were political adversaries but not enemies. He questions why the Speaker could not allow the Leader of Opposition and other Opposition MPs the opportunity to question the government, noting that the Opposition had sought a discussion on the situation in West Asia and its impact on India just a day earlier but was not permitted.

Gogoi also referred to Speaker Om Birla’s statement that he had advised the Prime Minister not to attend the Lok Sabha to reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks after receiving credible information about a possible unprecedented protest by women MPs near the Prime Minister’s chair. Calling the move shameful, Gogoi drew protests from Opposition members who shouted “shame, shame” in the House.

Gaurav Gogoi concludes his speech.